I made this Filipino Adobo last night.First you pan fry up 1/2 cup onion, sliced, starting to caramelize themThen toss in 1/4 garlic cloves (more or less)& 16 or so Gardien beef chunks, thawedbrown the beef chunks, then throw a lid on it & turn off the heat & set aside

Now, in a sauce pan, mix about 2/3 cup Bragg Aminos (you can use soy sauce but u lose vegan points)w/ 1 or 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (again u lose vegan points but white also works)A tablespoon of lemon juiceSome ground black pepper, just a dasha dash of ginger powder& a couple bay leavesHeat up your resulting sauce & add the contents of your frying pan, beef, veggies, and allAdd some small broccoli florets,raw, about a cup, maybe a little less(you may add little extra water or braggs if not enough sauce)Then simmer it all until the broccoli reaches the texture you prefer ( i like mine on the crunchy side, i over cooked this time)

Serve it in a bowl with rice on the side (or however, your smart kids)makes 2 servings

I am half filipino and grew up eating my grandmother's chicken adobo, which seems way different than your version. There are SO many variations of adobo throughout the Philippines though that one family's recipe is almost a totally different dish from another's.

Most recipes I see online seem similar to your dish, with soy sauce, etc. I think the way my nanai prepared her dish was less popular? I'm not sure...I only know that my mother grew up in Cavite city near Manila and they spoke tagalog. My Nanai's version didn't contain soy sauce and was meat braised in vinegar with liquid from soaking annatto seeds (mostly for color, I think?) a good amount of black pepper, salt, and garlic. I think most of the flavor comes from the braising process, so sadly I've never been able to recreate the dish great results. I'd love to hear more from others who have attempted vegan adobo.

Most recipes I see online seem similar to your dish, with soy sauce, etc. I think the way my nanai prepared her dish was less popular? I'm not sure...I only know that my mother grew up in Cavite city near Manila and they spoke tagalog. My Nanai's version didn't contain soy sauce and was meat braised in vinegar with liquid from soaking annatto seeds (mostly for color, I think?) a good amount of black pepper, salt, and garlic. I think most of the flavor comes from the braising process, so sadly I've never been able to recreate the dish great results. I'd love to hear more from others who have attempted vegan adobo.

The adobo I ate in the Philippines was a kind of cross between these two. It was definitely heavy on the vinegar and had the annatto colour, but had soy sauce too. I mainly ate it Los Baños, so not too far from Cavite. Terry's version uses both soy sauce and vinegar, and a LOT of black pepper! Whether it's similar to your family recipe or not, it's definitely delicious in its own right and worth a try!

I eat adobo regularly because I grew up eating it at nearly once a week. If I go too long without it, I start craving it. My favorite recipe is my grandma's, who is from Carcar, Cebu. Her recipe for adobo is super simple and the sauce is vegan, so I just use soy curls in place of her usual chicken or pork:

One head of garlic, minced (yes, a WHOLE head of garlic! or 10-12 cloves)1 cup soy sauce (best if you use Filipino soy sauce toyo - or if you can't find that, Japanese shoyu is good)1 cup vinegar (usually rice vinegar or cane sugar vinegar, but acv is good, too)1-2 tablespoons sugar1-2 bay leaves1/2 teaspoon black peppercorn, lightly crushed

salt optional (soy sauce should take care of salt requirements, but add to taste if you need it)

Saute the soy curls in 1 tbsp oil over medium heat.When crispy-ish and golden brown, remove from pan and set aside.

In the same pan, add a bit more oil if needed and saute garlic 1 minute or until garlic is fragrant.Pour in the soy sauce and vinegar all at once and bring to a simmer.Add in sugar, bay leaves, and peppercorns, stirring over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

Cook over low heat about 15-20 minutes or until sauce is reduced and thickened so it's consistency is almost glaze-like.Add soy curls to sauce and mix well, sporking the sauce over the soy curls.Remove bay leaves.

Serve over rice (or occasionally, I like eating it over corn tortillas - taco style!) And I also like having sitaw (string beans) on the side.

I've taken this to work and it's always devoured very quickly with people always asking for the recipe. I highly recommend it!

Thanks so much for the recipe Chaioli! This reminds me very much of my Nanai's recipe, with the addition of soy sauce and omission of annatto. I had forgotten about the sugar and bay leaves, but now I do recall her using them. I am excited to give this a try, especially with your suggestion of serving it taco style! I love asian fusion taco/burrito style food!

Have any of you successfully veganized other filipino dishes? i'd love to hear about it!